Bayard Rustin: Activism and Early Music

Dr Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech was a critical moment in the Civil Rights Movement, watched by a crowd of 250,000 people and millions more on television. It happened at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a gathering of peaceful protestors who wanted to end discrimination against black people.

The person who organised this hugely significant moment in history was Bayard Rustin, a man who is largely unknown. Rustin was an activist who dedicated his life to promoting equality and was an important mentor to Dr King, teaching him about the principles of non-violent direct action.

But Rustin wasn't just an activist. He was also a talented musician and singer who regularly used music in his political speeches, events, protests and talks. Rustin sang African American spirituals but surprisingly, he also performed Early Music as part of his activism.

The researcher and harpsichordist Joseph McHardy discovers the remarkable story of how Rustin, a political radical and pioneer, used Early Music - a genre not generally associated with people of colour or politics - in this unique way. How did Rustin make Early Music speak to the modern moment of the Civil Rights struggle?

Rustin’s great enthusiasm for Early Music and how he used it within his political work has been brought to life by the academic research of musicologist Loren Ludwig, who speaks to Joseph about his research on Rustin. Joseph and Loren dig deep into Rustin's 1952 album, which combined Early Music with African American Spirituals, and they explore the radical roots of the Early Music revival in the United States. Joseph travels to New York to meet Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner of ten years, and he visits the locations of the Cafe Society in Greenwich Village where Rustin sang, and the former 1963 March on Washington HQ in Harlem with author Michael Long. Joseph speaks to Margaret Chisholm to find out about Rustin's early life and time in prison as a conscientious objector of World War II, and he hears from the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Legacy Project, Courtland Cox, who worked with Rustin to organise the March on Washington. Joseph meets with string player Patricia Ann Neely in New York to discuss Rustin’s work and the Early Music revival, and in Washington, Joseph reflects upon his own experiences as a black musician working in Early Music with countertenor Reginald Mobley and they discuss whether Early Music can be a vehicle for activism today.

Presented by Joseph McHardy
Produced by Nancy Bennie

This programme contains some historical racial language